


“Babe, how long has it been since you’ve slept?”

by celt_the_flame_3110



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Boys In Love, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Eddie Kaspbrak Lives, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Established Relationship, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, Gentle Kissing, Hair Washing, Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, Kissing, Light Angst, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Making Out, Married Couple, Married Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Married Life, Mentions of Sex, Neck Kissing, Pet Names, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier Has ADHD, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Showers, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Stanley Uris Lives, Stress Relief, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000, they kiss a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:41:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22844215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celt_the_flame_3110/pseuds/celt_the_flame_3110
Summary: Before Richie entered the office, he expected to put the book back and get ready for bed as quietly as possible. Then he would accidentally wake Eddie up when he crawled into bed. He would then fall asleep to his husband’s ranting about staying up too late.Instead, when Richie opened the office door, he saw Eddie sitting at the desk.Eddie was hunched over the desk, typing away on his laptop. He had papers and different writing utensils spread out on the free space of the desk. Periodically he would stop typing to highlight or write something down on the pages. Once he was done, he would go back to typing.Richie was concerned because this was the same position he had been in since they finished eating dinner. That was at five. He also knew that Eddie hadn’t been getting enough sleep this past week.ORI wanted to write a small domestic fluff fic about Richie relieving Eddie's stress but it ended up being almost three times as long as I originally anticipated.
Relationships: Bill Denbrough & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris
Comments: 16
Kudos: 227





	“Babe, how long has it been since you’ve slept?”

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted to write a short domestic fluff fic. Instead, it ended up being around 8,000 words.
> 
> I based it off of a dialogue prompt, "How long has it been since you've slept?" I found it from a screenshot of a Tumblr post. I thought I saved it but I didn't. I poked around on google for a while, trying to find it. I never did. This is a long winded way of me saying that I have no clue who originally posted it. I apologize.
> 
> Quick warning. There's a single, small mention of canon typical violence. For, like, three seconds.
> 
> I think that's everything. No other warnings. This is supposed to be a happy fic where Richie and Eddie are super soft. In the words of Greg from Over the Garden Wall, "They're warm and soft like puppies and socks. Filled with cream and candy rocks."
> 
> Enjoy!

Richie yawned as he closed the book he just finished reading. It was Bill’s newest novel. 

Richie had read a couple of Bill's books before coming back to Derry. Richie loved the writing style, got attached to the characters, and was really invested in the plot. The reason he didn’t read more of them was because the critics were right… the endings fucking  _ sucked. _ The ending of a book was one of the most important factors on whether Richie liked the book as a whole or not. After going through two whole books, one of which was a  _ thousand fucking pages, _ he was straight-up  _ pissed _ that the endings were terrible.

Surprisingly, the ending to this book was  _ good. _ Like, way better than anything else Bill’s ever written (that Richie’s read, anyway.)

Richie got his phone out and texted Bill.

**Richie:** Just finished your new book. Glad to see your endings no longer suck

Richie got a reply almost instantly.

**Big Bill:** Wow… you finished it already?

Richie glanced at the time on his phone. Damn... he didn’t realize it was after midnight.

He drafted another text.

**Richie:** Yeah it was really good. I even stayed up late to finish it. Speaking of which...what are you doing awake still? You should go to bed.

**Big Bill:** I’m going to soon. I just needed to finish something I was working on.

**Richie:** I guess I’ll leave you to it then. Keep up the good work Billiam. Goodnight

**Big Bill:** Goodnight, Trashmouth.

Richie slipped his phone back into his pocket and grabbed the book before going to the office to put it on the shelf. He tried to be as quiet as possible. Eddie was probably already asleep and, since he was a light sleeper, Richie didn’t want to risk waking him.

Before Richie entered the office, he expected to put the book back and get ready for bed as quietly as possible. Then he would accidentally wake Eddie up when he crawled into bed. He would then fall asleep to his husband’s ranting about staying up too late.

Instead, when Richie opened the office door, he saw Eddie sitting at the desk.

Eddie was hunched over the desk, typing away on his laptop. He had papers and different writing utensils spread out on the free space of the desk. Periodically he would stop typing to highlight or write something down on the pages. Once he was done, he would go back to typing.

Richie was concerned because this was the same position he had been in since they finished eating dinner. That was at five. He also knew that Eddie hadn’t been getting enough sleep this past week.

Richie slipped the book on the shelf and approached his husband.

“Hey, Eds.” Richie greeted.

“Hey, Chee.” Eddie mumbled, still typing.

Richie silently noted the lack of protest at the nickname. Even though they had been married for five years at this point, Eddie  _ always _ protested his nicknames. Even if it was a halfhearted attempt, he would still say something about it. The only times he wouldn’t were when he was too tired to function or ill.

“Are you almost done?”

Eddie shrugged, circling something on a sheet of paper with a ballpoint pen.

“Eduardo, it’s almost one in the morning.”

“Then go to bed,” Eddie replied, highlighting something in yellow. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“That’s what you said last night. You didn’t crawl into bed until four AM.”

Eddie finally made eye contact with Richie. “Shit… I woke you up?”

Richie shrugged. “Only for a minute. I fell asleep again immediately after. It was only a ten second drift out of unconsciousness.”

Eddie nodded, then returned to typing.

“Babe, how long has it been since you’ve slept?”

“I slept yesterday.”

“Spaghedward, I don’t think you did. I woke up again at five thirty and you were gone. I seriously doubt you were fully rested after an hour and a half.”

Eddie just shrugged, writing something else down.

“You know it’s Saturday tomorrow, right? Well, technically today because it’s past midnight. Anyway, the point is, you don’t go back to work until Monday.”

“So?”

“So… that means you have two days to work on stuff if you need to. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

Eddie clicked on a new tab and finished composing an email. “I wish I could. I  _ really _ do, but I can’t.”

Richie waited for Eddie to hit send, then he poked Eddie in the side.

Eddie jumped about ten feet in the air and his hands left the keyboard long enough for Richie to close the laptop lid.

Eddie glared. “What the hell, Rich?”

Richie cautiously reached forward. When Eddie didn’t move away, Richie brushed his long fingers through Eddie’s dark hair.

Eddie’s eyes fluttered shut. “Don’t… You’re gonna make me fall asleep.”

“Sweetie, that’s kind of the point. Here, let me just…” Richie plugged Eddie’s laptop in so it could charge, still letting his one hand run through Eddie’s hair. “Everything should be there for you to work on after you wake up. You need to rest. Just let me take care of you, okay?”

Eddie, not seeming to have any fight left in him, murmured. “I don’t think I have enough energy to move.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got you. Grab onto me and put your legs up.”

Eddie wrapped his arms around Richie’s neck and his legs around the taller man’s waist.

Richie could feel how tense Eddie’s body was.

“Did you shower yet?” Richie asked, carrying Eddie to the bathroom.

“No,” Eddie mumbled drowsily. “I can wait until morning.”

Richie knew for a fact that Eddie always showered at night. Sometimes he would shower in the morning too but he tried to only shower once a day.

“Well, I haven’t showered yet either. We could do it together.”

Eddie yawned. “I don’t know if I can stand. I’ll probably fall down or something.”

“I can just hold you or sit you on the shower floor.”

Eddie nodded.

When they made it to the bathroom, Richie sat Eddie on the closed toilet lid.

Richie grabbed the hem of Eddie’s shirt and pulled it off over his head after Eddie lifted his arms. Richie removed Eddie’s socks before grabbing the waistband of his sweatpants, pulling them off with his boxers in one go when Eddie lifted his hips.

Richie turned the water in the shower on and undressed himself while he waited for it to heat up.

Richie unbuttoned his shirt with deft fingers. “Babe, feel the water and let me know if I need to make it hotter.”

Eddie felt the water coming from the shower head as Richie slipped his jeans off.

“Warmer.” Eddie murmured.

Richie rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly before reaching over and turning the knob in the correct direction. “Why did I have to marry a man who likes his showers hotter than the surface of the fucking sun?”

Eddie smiled sleepily. “Are you gonna divorce me over it?”

Richie smiled back, taking any remaining articles of clothing off efficiently. “Eddie Spaghetti Tozier, I would  _ never _ divorce you. Even though you pronounce GIF with a soft G, you’re stuck being married to me until one of us experiences the sweet release of death.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “Stop calling me that. Also, I don’t know why the fuck  _ you _ pronounce it with a hard G. The man who created them  _ literally _ said it’s pronounced GIF. With a  _ soft _ G.”

Richie felt his smile grow wider at Eddie being annoyed. “It’s pronounced GIF, Spagheds. The other way sounds like you’re talking about peanut butter.”

Eddie huffed. “You should  _ know _ what I’m talking about based on context, dumbass! If I’m talking to you and I’m all like, ‘Did you get that GIF I texted you?’ you should  _ know _ I’m talking about a Graphics Interchange Format, not fucking peanut butter!”

Richie laughed. “Okay, okay. Take a deep breath, Spaghetti Man. You don’t need to waste your infinitesimal amount of energy on yelling at me. You can pronounce it your way, I’ll continue to pronounce it the wrong way.”

Richie wanted to say,  _ I’ll pronounce it my way and you can continue to pronounce it the wrong way, _ but, since he knew this would send Eddie into another tirade, he decided not to.

Eddie’s piercing, hot gaze softened. ”Damn… I can’t believe you used the word ‘infinitesimal’ correctly.”

Richie shrugged. “I’m full of surprises. Check the water again.”

Eddie put his hand under the spray. “Acceptable. I’d prefer it a bit hotter but I don’t want to melt your skin off.”

Richie thought for a moment before adjusting the temperature again. “Eh... I can deal with  _ one _ scalding shower. It won’t kill me or anything.”

Eddie smiled and grabbed the sides of Richie’s face, pulling him into a kiss. Richie kissed him back, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s neck.

Sometimes Richie would do something that seemed insignificant, to him at least, but Eddie would respond with an intense act of love.

One time, Eddie was so tired after coming home from work that he collapsed on the couch. He didn’t even take his shoes off or anything. It was his turn to do the dishes that night but Richie did them for him. After he was done, Eddie was still sleeping on the couch in his suit. Richie felt uncomfortable just looking at him, so he changed him into more comfortable clothes. Miraculously, he was able to accomplish this without waking Eddie up. 

Eddie woke up and walked into the kitchen around the time that Richie finished making dinner. Eddie was confused and asked Richie what happened. After he was done explaining, Eddie shoved his husband against the wall and they had a ten minute make out session. They only stopped kissing when something on the stove started smoking.

It surprised him at first, not that Richie was complaining. Now though, after being married for so long and living together before they were even engaged, he went with the flow more easily.

When they finally pulled away, Richie told Eddie to check the water one final time. When Eddie deemed it the “perfect” temperature, Richie stepped into the shower and pulled the shorter man in after him. Since Eddie seemed unsteady on his feet, Richie sat him down on the shower floor.

“Can you hand me some shampoo?” Eddie asked. “I can’t really reach it from down here.”

“Give me a second.” Richie responded, starting to shampoo his own hair.

Eddie’s eyes fluttered shut and he inhaled deeply.

Richie shampooed his hair and rinsed it as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to waste time on conditioning it but he did, since he knew Eddie would lecture him if he didn’t.

When he was done with the conditioner, he grabbed Eddie’s shampoo. He squeezed a sufficient amount from the bottle into the palm of his hand. He knelt in front of Eddie and started to shampoo his hair for him.

Eddie’s eyes shot open and he had a bewildered expression. “Chee, I can do that myse-”

“Baby, I know you can. You’re tired, though. I don’t want you to waste energy that you don’t have. I promise I’ll make sure you’re clean to your standards. If I don’t, I give you explicit permission to yell at me later.”

Eddie smiled. “You know I’d do it whether you gave me permission or not, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Richie continued massaging the shampoo into his husband’s hair. Eddie’s eyes closed again and Richie could feel the tension slipping out of the shorter man’s body.

“I’m not being too rough, am I?” Richie asked.

“No,” Eddie mumbled. “It feels nice.”

Richie nodded, continuing what he was doing.

After Richie rinsed the shampoo out, he started to rub the conditioner into Eddie’s hair.

Since Richie got bored easily, and doing the same repetitive motion for longer than a minute was tedious as fuck, he started kissing Eddie’s face gently. Eddie smiled sleepily, still with his eyes closed, as Richie continued to work.

While Richie waited for the conditioner to set, he stood to quickly soap and rinse his own body. When he was done with that, he rinsed the conditioner out of his hair. When he was finally finished, he knelt in front of Eddie again and started to clean the rest of him.

Richie carefully smoothed the body wash onto Eddie’s skin, making sure to be thorough. He peppered delicate kisses on every part of Eddie’s body that wasn’t covered with soap. 

When he was halfway finished, Eddie’s eyes opened.

“What?” Richie asked, afraid he missed something.

“I’m just surprised you’re being this meticulous. I figured you’d just lazily smear a few streaks of soap on me and then rinse it off.”

Richie shrugged. “I know you like to make sure you’re clean. I just want to make sure I get everything so you won’t go to bed feeling gross. Shit… I didn’t mean you  _ were _ gross. I’m just saying, that’s how you say you feel when you-”

“Babe, calm down. I know what you meant.”

Richie shivered at the pet name but he didn’t stop what he was doing.

Richie used pet names for Eddie constantly. Not just his normal nicknames like Eddie Spaghetti and Eduardo, that Eddie would always protest. He would also use babe, baby, honey, sweetie, sweetheart, darling, and a few others. Sometimes he would protest against these too but, for the most part, he didn’t seem to mind them.

Eddie usually only called Richie Rich and Chee. Other than that it was always fuckface, fucker, dick, dickwad, asshole, dumbass, and many other vulgar terms. Richie didn’t mind this since insults were terms of endearment. Even if Eddie called him a “Dumbass motherfucker,” Richie would feel warm on the inside.

A pet name like “babe” coming out of Eddie’s mouth was… weird. A good weird, but still.

Richie’s heart started beating a little faster and the shower suddenly felt ten times hotter.

Eddie took note of this and grinned. “Anyway, this is taking forever. You usually don’t have patience for this shit.”

Richie shrugged again. “Yeah, I know. I’m just trying to make sure you’re clean. I know you’re usually more efficient than this,  _ way _ more efficient, but I just want to make sure I get everything. If that means it takes a few extra minutes, then so be it.”

Eddie’s eyes practically sparkled with fondness.

“What?”

“I don’t have the energy to right now, but remind me to make out with you after we wake up later.”

Richie smiled. “Yeah, I probably owe  _ you _ one too.”

Eddie squinted. “Why?”

“You color coded my shirts a few days ago.”

Eddie laughed. “I’m gonna be honest, I did that to fuck with you. I thought you’d hate it.”

“I did at first but, after I was running late to a meeting the next day, I realized that it was  _ way _ easier to find the shirt I wanted. When I got home later that day, I realized how easier finding shit would be if I just organized it. Then I did a total  _ you _ thing and color coded my fucking sock drawer.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “You did?”

“Yeah. Then after that I… you know that one junk drawer that’s in the desk in the office?”

Eddie shuddered. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Yeah, I know the one you’re talking about. What about it?”

Richie grinned. “Have you opened it recently?”

Eddie laughed. “Fuck no! I  _ never _ open that fucking- Wait a second. Did you…?”

Richie nodded, still smiling. “Yep. I organized the whole thing.”

“You  _ didn't.” _

“Oh, but I did. I took everything out of it and before I put stuff back in it, I saw the bottom of the drawer was  _ filthy. _ So I got a wet wipe and cleaned the bottom out before putting stuff back neatly. I put other things in different drawers, where they  _ actually _ belong.”

Eddie’s mouth was agape.  _ “That’s _ why we had more Post-it notes!”

“Yep. Instead of ‘junk drawer,’ I guess it’s a ‘miscellaneous items drawer’ now.”

Eddie leveled Richie with the most serious look. “Okay, fuck waiting until morning. We’re making out before we fall asleep tonight.”

Richie laughed. “Alright, no complaints here. Just don’t force yourself to stay awake. If you fall asleep in the middle of it, we can pick up where we left off in the morning.”

Eddie smiled as Richie finished soaping him up.

When Richie was done rinsing everything off of Eddie, he shut the water off. He quickly dried himself off before drying his husband off. 

Richie carried Eddie to the bedroom and sat him on his side of the bed before grabbing clothes for both of them.

Richie grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama pants for himself. “What do you wanna wear?”

Eddie yawned for a whole ten seconds before responding, “I don’t really care.”

Richie could have easily grabbed one of Eddie’s hoodies and pajama pants for him. Since he knew that Eddie liked wearing Richie’s clothes sometimes, and he thought Eddie looked cute in clothes that were too big for him, Richie grabbed one of his own sweatshirts and pair of sweatpants.

Richie dressed himself before putting his own clothes on Eddie.

When he was finished, Eddie opened his eyes and looked down at what he was wearing before looking up at Richie. “You do know I have my  _ own _ pajamas, right?”

Richie picked Eddie up easily with one arm while he pulled the covers back. Then he lied Eddie down on his side of the bed before climbing into his own.

Richie draped the duvet over both of them. “I know. Mine were closer, though.”

Before Eddie could say how little sense that statement made, Richie wrapped both arms around him and pulled the shorter man onto his chest. Eddie unwound into the embrace, wrapping both of his arms and legs around his husband.

“Are you gonna set an alarm?” Eddie asked.

Richie kissed the crown of Eddie’s head. “Nope. We’re gonna let you sleep until you’re fully rested. Just let your body decide when it wants to wake up, okay?”

“Alright.” There was a pause. “You know that I love you, right?”

Richie chuckled. “I mean I  _ hope _ you do, at this point.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, not able to hold back his affectionate smile.

Richie kissed him on the cheek. “I love you too.”

Eddie pulled Richie into another deep kiss. 

Richie grabbed Eddie’s waist with both hands and Eddie buried a hand into Richie’s raven black curls, scratching at his scalp. 

Kissing Eddie was one of Richie’s favorite things to do. Whether it was a quick peck on the forehead or a full on makeout session, he loved doing it every chance he got. Richie always wondered how he got so lucky, to be able to kiss Eddie as much as he wanted to every day. He just assumed the universe was trying to pay him back for all of the killer clown stuff and decided not to think about it too much.

At some point during their kissing, Richie’s hands wandered down to rest on the backs of Eddie’s thighs. Eddie’s hand was still tangled in Richie’s hair and the other was cradling the back of Richie’s neck.

When they broke away to breathe, Eddie started kissing Richie’s neck. This meant that Richie couldn’t kiss him as easily anymore but, since Eddie’s lips were brushing along his neck and collarbone, he decided not to complain too much.

Richie moved his hands to rub in rhythmic, repetitive motions across Eddie’s shoulders and down the length of his back. The longer Richie kept this up, the more languid Eddie’s kisses became and the more his eyes started to droop. Eventually, Eddie’s eyes were completely shut as he was still trying to kiss Richie’s jawline.

Richie decided to speak in a soft voice, so he wouldn’t rouse his husband. “You know you can just go to sleep, right?”

Eddie let out a quiet, frustrated noise before mumbling, “I know. I wanna keep kissing you, though.”

Richie smiled. “I know. I wanna keep kissing you too but you need to sleep. We can kiss as much as you want in the morning.”

Eddie let out a long, drawn-out yawn. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

Eddie nodded weakly in response.

Richie carefully shifted Eddie until he was in a more comfortable position on top of him. 

He pressed a few wet, open-mouthed kisses to the crown of Eddie’s head. “Get some rest, angel.”

Normally Eddie would gag or cringe in disgust when Richie kissed him like this, despite the fact that he secretly liked it. Right now, Eddie just smiled and gave his husband a lazy kiss on the jaw before drifting off to sleep.

Richie gradually stilled his hands, so he wouldn’t wake Eddie, and he drifted off to sleep himself.

***

When Richie woke up the next morning, Eddie was still asleep. At some point in the night, they had changed positions.

Eddie was now lying on his side of the bed with his legs tangled up in Richie’s. Eddie’s arms were wrapped around his own pillow and he was breathing easily through his nose.

Richie checked the blissfully silent alarm clock on the nightstand and saw that it was almost ten AM. He wanted to lie in bed with his husband for a while longer. He wanted to wake him up by kissing him all over his pretty face and cuddling with him before they got out of bed.

That’s when Richie remembered that Eddie had hardly eaten breakfast all week long. He just shoved a piece of toast in his mouth before practically running out the door. It was a little late to be eating breakfast but…

Richie gently untangled his legs from Eddie’s and carefully stood from the bed, so it wouldn’t creak. Miraculously, Eddie didn’t stir, he just rolled over onto his other side.

Richie inwardly celebrated as he quietly made his way to the kitchen.

Richie got all of the ingredients he needed and started to make pancakes.

Eddie  _ loved _ pancakes. It was his favorite breakfast food but he hardly ever ate them. 

They weren’t that healthy so eating them every morning was a bad idea. Also, Eddie claimed that Richie made better pancakes than he did and when he made them himself they “weren’t the same.” Richie usually never got out of bed as early as Eddie did. By the time he woke up, Eddie would have already eaten cereal or something similar. 

The only days that Richie ever made pancakes was on Saturday morning. They would both wake up at the same time on those days. For the past few Saturdays, Richie had meetings with people for work so he never got a chance to make them. Richie helped Eddie with his sleep deprivation last night, so he decided to help with his pancake deprivation this morning.

Richie had just finished making the batter and was waiting for the pan to heat up, when his cell phone started vibrating.

Richie sighed in relief that he never switched the sound back on, and he saw it was Stan.

“Hey, Stan the Man.”

“Hi, Rich. Why are you speaking so softly?”

Richie got a carton of strawberries out of the fridge and started rinsing them. “Eddie’s not awake yet. I’m trying not to wake him up.”

“Eddie’s not awake?” Stan asked in a surprised tone of voice. “At ten in the morning? What’s wrong? Is he sick?”

“No. We didn’t get to bed until two AM this morning. I had to drag him away from paperwork so he could go to sleep.”

“Oh, I see. Why was he doing paperwork at two in the morning? Are your procrastination habits rubbing off on him?”

Richie laughed softly, starting to chop up strawberries and bananas. “No, I don’t think so. He’s just been really busy. He’s hardly had time to breathe all week.”

“So  _ that’s _ why he’s barely been active in the group chat.”

“Yeah. He’s been too busy drafting emails to text anyone.”

“I hope you’re taking care of him."

Richie abruptly felt guilt creep into the pit of his stomach. He didn’t do anything the entire time Eddie’s been stressed... until now, anyway.

He noticed small things here and there. Eddie barely eating breakfast, coming home from work later than usual, staying in the office longer… 

He didn’t even realize the link between all of these habits until last night. Which, now that he thought about it, was even worse than noticing it and not doing anything.

Richie cleared his throat, trying to shove the uneasy feeling away. “I am. I didn't set an alarm this morning. He should be rested when he wakes up.”

“That’s good.” Richie could hear the smile in Stan’s voice. “Anyway, I just finished Bill’s book. How far ahead are you on it?”

“I finished it last night.” Richie answered, ladling some batter into the pan.

Stan laughed. “You finished it already?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t put it down. What’d you think of it?”

Stan sighed. “Well, I still hate Bill’s long-winded writing style. The ending was actually decent this time, though.”

All of the losers had read at least one of Bill's books.

Eddie had read three of them, (which he had to sneak past Myra) Beverly had read the same two Richie read, Ben had read one, and Mike had read six.

Stan, however, had read all of them. He liked them even if he hated the writing and the endings.

Richie flipped the pancake. “I like the writing style. It’s really detailed.”

Stan laughed. “Yeah,  _ too _ detailed. I can appreciate a detailed writing style but Bill just goes overboard. He’s just like, ‘Let me tell you  _ exactly _ what this neighborhood looks like. You need to know what every single house looks like, who lives in each house, where each house is located, where every single tree is standing, how old said trees  _ are, _ how many rocks are on the ground, what color each rock is, the precise shade of the brown the dirt is, how many clouds are in the sky…’ 

“Like, calm down, Bill. It’s  _ fine. _ We don’t need to know every fucking thing. If someone pictures the cherry red corvette as ruby red, then who the fuck cares? It’s not the end of the world.”

Richie was suppressing his laughter with a hand so Eddie could continue snoozing.

When Richie was finally able to remove his hand, he put the finished pancake on a plate and ladled some more batter into the pan. “Yeah, I agree. Sometimes it’s a little too much information. I’m just surprised he was able to write a decent ending. Unfortunately he couldn’t omit the fucking sex scene.”

Stan chuckled. “Yeah. I’m convinced that if he doesn’t write a sex scene or mentions breasts at least ten times in his novel that he would spontaneously combust.”

Richie laughed again, as quietly as possible. He flipped the pancake before boiling some water in a pot.

“So what’s the verdict?” Richie asked, filling the French press with ground coffee. “Is it the best book he’s written so far or do you think he needs to keep trying?”

“It still has flaws, obviously. Considering he’s never going to fix said flaws no matter how much criticism he gets, I  _ do _ think this is his best attempt. He has peaked in his career and the only way he can go is down.”

Richie laughed the loudest he’s laughed that whole morning, but still not loud enough to wake Eddie. “Stanny gets off a good one! Are you going to say any of this to Bill?”

“Of course I am! I wanted to call you before calling him.”

“To brag about finishing it first?”

“That was originally the plan, yes. Apparently you beat me to it, though. So if you want to gloat about how I was wrong and you finished the book first, be my guest.”

Richie thought for a moment as he put the newly cooked pancake on the plate and got another one started. “Nah, I’m good. I might give you a hard time about it later but I’m too busy to tease you about it.”

“Oh, shit. Did I interrupt something?”

“No. Nothing that I can’t multitask, anyway.”

“That’s good. I should probably call Bill now and tell him how I felt about it.”

“Okay. Just go easy on him. Remember that humans have feelings.”

Stan laughed. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. I’ll probably call or text you later, if you’re not busy.”

“I shouldn’t be. I just have to keep Edward Spaghedward from running himself ragged. Other than that, I’m probably not going to do much.”

“Okay. I'll talk to you later, then.”

“Talk to you later, Staniel.”

When the call ended, Richie put his phone back in his pocket before getting a new pancake in the pan and pouring the water into the French press.

Richie had just inserted the plunger and partially pushed it down when he felt two arms wrap around his shoulders. He felt a weight land on his back and he almost lost his balance in his shocked state.

Kisses were being pressed into his neck before he finally laughed. “Good morning, Eddio Spaghettio. How'd you sleep?”

Eddie huffed and Richie shivered from the sudden burst of air on the nape of his neck. “Thanks for ruining the moment, fucker.”

Richie laughed again. “I didn’t realize you leaping onto my back and almost throwing it out meant that we were having a moment. Also, you didn’t answer my question.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? I slept fine, by the way.”

“Nah. I’m just being an asshole. So… why are we having a moment?”

“Because I investigated the junk drawer and realized you weren’t bullshitting me.”

Richie made an incredulous noise. “Have I ever lied to you before?”

“I didn’t say ‘lying,’ I said ‘bullshitting.’ There’s a difference.”

“Well, I wasn’t fucking with you. I actually did it.”

Eddie nibbled the shell of Richie’s ear, causing the taller man to shudder. “I know, I saw. I’m impressed with how  _ neat _ it is. I mean… it looks like  _ I _ did it.”

Richie nodded, flipping the pancake. “Yeah, I did it that way on purpose. I was  _ really _ hoping I did it correctly.”

“You’re making pancakes too?” Eddie asked.

“Yep. I know it’s kind of late for them but I haven’t made them in a while. Also, you’ve barely eaten breakfast all week.”

Eddie buried his face into Richie’s neck and groaned.

“What?” Richie asked, feeling panicked.

“Stop being the best,” Eddie muttered, his voice muffled. “Knock it off.”

Richie felt a twinge of pain in his lower back. “Babe, you’re going to have to sit on the counter or something. I’m  _ forty, _ remember?”

“Right, sorry.” Eddie said before sliding off.

Eddie hopped onto the counter as Richie put the last pancake on the plate and turned the burner off.

Richie put two of the pancakes on a separate plate and grabbed the syrup out of the fridge. “What do you mean, ‘stop being the best?’ I’m literally doing the bare minimum.”

Eddie tilted his head and Richie had just gotten a good look at him.

He was still wearing Richie’s clothes. He had the sleeves of the gray hoodie rolled up to his elbows and the legs of the black sweatpants weren’t too long, so Richie knew he had them pulled up past his hips. His hair was still messy from sleeping and, even though he had dark circles from the week’s sleep deprivation, his eyes were bright and alert.

“‘The bare minimum?’ Chee, you always go out of your way to do random shit for me. Whether you organized the junk drawer for your benefit or mine, I still think it’s awesome that you  _ organized _ something without me having to ask you to. You forced me to stop working and fucking  _ cleaned me _ with your own two hands. You could have easily skipped showering or forced me to do it alone, but you  _ didn’t. _ You took your time and washed me as thoroughly as I would’ve done it myself. Then you carried me to bed, dressed me, and now you’re making me breakfast? This honestly doesn’t seem like ‘the bare minimum’ to me.”

Richie pressed the coffee and grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet. “Well, if I was doing more than the bare minimum, I would’ve noticed you were overworking yourself  _ days _ ago. I would’ve done something about it immediately and you wouldn’t be this sleep deprived. I would’ve helped you and you wouldn’t be as stressed as you were last night. This is the  _ least _ I can do for not helping you sooner. I…”

When Richie saw the surprised look on Eddie’s face, he realized his voice rose in volume and intensity.

Richie took a deep breath before finishing. “I’m sorry, Eddie. I really am. I should’ve done something.”

Eddie’s brow was furrowed in confusion. “Do you not remember  _ any _ of the things you’ve done all week?”

“Uh… no?”

Richie expected Eddie to get mad, but he just smiled kindly. “You tried to get me to slow down all week. Last night was just the first time it worked.”

Richie blinked. “I did?”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah. You tried to get me to stop doing paperwork and relax. I just didn’t listen to you. You came to me, half asleep at three in the morning, begging me to come to bed. I would tell you I would ‘in a minute’ and you would just go back to sleep.”

Richie rolled his eyes, still making coffee. “I could’ve at least made you breakfast or something.”

Eddie gently grabbed Richie’s hands, stilling them as they tried to stir sugar into Eddie’s mug.

“C’mere.” Eddie murmured.

Eddie grabbed Richie’s arms and forced him to stand in front of where he was sitting.

Richie gave him an inquisitive glance.

Eddie smiled sweetly. “You  _ did _ make me breakfast.”

Richie squinted. “Huh?”

Eddie nodded. “You did. I was about to leave the house without eating  _ anything _ all week. You just handed me a travel mug of coffee and gave me one of your pieces of toast. Do you not remember doing  _ any _ of that?”

Richie thought for a moment, staring blankly into Eddie’s eyes as he waited patiently.

Richie laughed. “Yeah. I remember now. Sorry… ADHD’s a bitch. My short term memory is  _ fucked.” _

Eddie cupped Richie’s face in his hands, causing the laughter to suddenly stop. “You did everything that you could’ve done. You tried to get me to take breaks and get sleep. I’m a grown man. It’s my own fault that I ended up being stressed and tired. I guess I was too stubborn to take your advice. So quit beating yourself up over it.”

Richie nodded and Eddie pulled him into a heated kiss. 

It only lasted for a few seconds when Richie broke it. Eddie looked at him with a bewildered expression.

“You need to eat before your food gets cold.”

Eddie laughed and shook his head. “Okay, fine. You better be finished eating around the time that I get done. I’m picking up where we left off after I’m done whether you’re finished or not.”

Richie smiled. “Okay, sounds good.”

Eddie put the toppings on their pancakes while Richie finished making the coffee.

When everything was ready, they both carried everything to the table. They took their seats across from each other and started eating.

Eddie glared judgmentally at Richie’s mug. “How can you even drink it like  _ that?” _

Richie usually drank his coffee black. Eddie always wanted his mug to be 30 percent coffee and seventy percent sugar, cream, or milk.

“I don’t know. I guess I’m used to it. How can you drink yours like  _ that? _ Doesn’t it make you sick?”

Eddie narrowed his eyes at Richie. “Listen, motherfucker. I was on a no sugar diet for  _ years _ of my life. Let me drink my sugar with coffee in peace and  _ you _ can drink your gross coffee that’s blacker than your soul.”

Richie cackled and Eddie tried not to smile. “Damn, Spaghedward gets off a good one!”

Eddie rolled his eyes fondly, shoving a forkful of pancake topped with fruit into his mouth.

They finished their breakfast in comfortable silence, keeping their legs tangled together underneath the table since they couldn’t hold hands.

When they were done, Richie rinsed the dishes and sat them in the sink so he could wash them later.

Eddie glanced at his phone. “Damn, I’m going to be behind.”

“You’re not allowed to work yet.”

Eddie blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

Richie smiled. “You are required to relax for a whole hour before you can start working. I’m also timing you. For every hour you work, you have to take a ten to fifteen minute break.”

“Damn… You thought of everything, didn't you?”

Richie nodded.

Eddie shrugged. “Okay. How are we relaxing?”

Richie wrapped an arm around Eddie’s waist and led him to the living room. “Cuddling on the couch.”

Eddie just said, “Cool.” as he sat down.

Richie sat down and Eddie leaned against him, sighing in contentment as he wrapped his arms around the taller man’s neck.

For the next hour they talked about how their weeks were in between kisses.

Richie scratched up and down Eddie's back alternating between short and long strokes as Eddie mothed at Richie’s neck.

“This isn’t fair.” Richie said breathlessly.

Eddie stopped nipping at the skin behind Richie’s ear. “What are you talking about?”

“I haven’t gotten to kiss you  _ at all _ this  _ entire _ time.”

“Then do it.”

Richie pressed soft kisses to Eddie’s face and head. Eddie sighed in contentment as he relaxed further into Richie’s arms.

Eddie threaded his fingers into Richie’s hair and started playing with it idly as Richie continued to press kisses onto any part of Eddie’s body that he could reach from his current angle.

It seemed like barely any time passed at all when the hour was up.

They both went and changed into some actual clothes. Eddie went to the office to work on his stuff and Richie took his laptop to the living room to work on his new material.

When Richie’s alarm went off, he knew that an hour had passed and it was time for a break. He sat his laptop on the coffee table and got a glass of water from the kitchen before going to the office.

Richie cracked the door open. “Eduardo, you need to take a break.”

Eddie sighed, sitting his pen down. “Don’t call me that, asshole.”

Richie laughed and handed Eddie the glass.

Eddie smiled, taking a sip. “Thanks.”

Richie offered Eddie his hand. “Let’s go outside for a minute. You don’t wanna be cooped up indoors all day.”

Eddie blinked.

Richie remembered that Eddie hardly ever went outside when he was married to She Who Must Not Be Named.

She would constantly be worried about his “allergies” and would keep him inside unless he was going to work. As a result, Eddie probably still wasn't used to being outdoors.

Richie chuckled. “Come on, dude. At least come with me to a different room of the house. Staying in the same room all day long can’t be good for you.”

After thinking for a moment, Eddie took Richie’s hand and stood. “Going outside sounds nice.”

They sat on the balcony during their break, drinking water and arguing about whatever the topic at hand was.

For the rest of the day, they worked on their respective tasks for an hour before sitting on the balcony for fifteen minutes. Sometimes Richie would bring Eddie coffee even when it wasn’t break time.

Once Eddie was finished with filling out sheets of paper, and he only had to use his laptop to finish everything, he joined Richie on the couch. They sat facing each other, with their legs tangled together and their PCs balanced on their laps.

After a couple of hours on the couch, Eddie finally stopped typing and he let out a sigh of relief as he closed the lid.

Richie glanced up at him from what he was working on. “Done?”

Eddie nodded, stretching his arms above his head. “Yeah, finally.”

Richie smiled, closing his own laptop before setting it aside.

“Don’t you need to finish?”

“Nah, I can do it later. I don’t have any deadlines any time soon.” Richie opened his arms. “C’mere.”

Eddie wasted no time in sitting his laptop on the coffee table and lunging forward into Richie’s open arms.

Eddie sighed as he buried his face into Richie’s chest. Richie wrapped his arms snugly around his husband before kissing the top of his head several times. Eddie giggled before saying something that was muffled by Richie’s shirt.

“What was that?” Richie asked.

Eddie pulled away to look at the taller man. “Let’s go cuddle in bed. It’ll probably be more comfortable.”

When Richie nodded, Eddie got up and went to their room.

Once they were changed into more comfortable clothes, (he noticed that Eddie was wearing one of Richie’s sweatshirts but he decided not to say anything about it) they both crawled into bed and got underneath the covers.

Richie lied on his back and Eddie lied on his side. Eddie curled closely to Richie, resting his head on his shoulder and his hand on his chest. Richie wrapped an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and the other arm encircled his waist. Richie rested his hand on Eddie’s bare thigh. When Richie slid his hand up, he realized that Eddie was just wearing boxers under the sweatshirt.

“You’re not wearing any shorts?” Richie asked.

Eddie’s eyes were still closed. “Nope. I have boxers on, though, so it’s fine. Why? Do you want me to go put something on?”

Richie quickly shook his head. “Nope, it’s fine. Just making an observation.”

Eddie smiled, trying to snuggle closer to Richie. 

Richie kissed the tip of his nose and Eddie’s eyes finally opened. They were tired but they sparkled with affection.

Richie brushed Eddie’s hair off of his forehead and pressed a chaste kiss to his temple. “If you need to sleep, go ahead. You looked drained.”

Eddie yawned before kissing Richie’s clavicle. “I am. Doing paperwork all day will do that to you.”

There was a pause before Eddie spoke again. “Chee?”

Richie’s heart fluttered. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for helping me get my work done.”

Richie blinked. “What are you talking about? I didn’t help you with your paperwork. I wish I could have but I know  _ nothing _ about analyzing risks.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes, still smiling. “I know that you didn’t do any work for me but you still helped me finish it. I didn’t get any work done because I was tired and stressed. You made sure I got enough sleep last night and that helped  _ a lot. _ I didn’t realize how much my sleep deprivation was affecting my productivity. 

“Then when I had to get back to work today, you took  _ such _ good care of me. You made sure I took breaks and helped me stay relaxed. When I went back to work, I felt less frantic and that helped me finish my work faster. You kept me fed, hydrated, and you distributed a healthy amount of caffeine into my system. So don’t give me any of that, ‘But I didn’t do anything…’ bullshit. You did  _ so much.” _

Richie stared blankly at Eddie as he gave him a moment to process everything that he just said.

Richie  _ did _ do all of this for Eddie’s benefit. Richie  _ hated _ seeing Eddie overworked and tired all of the time. He wanted to help him in any way he was able. At the same time, seeing how grateful Eddie was being felt strange.

It wasn’t that Eddie never seemed appreciative for the things Richie did for him. He showed Richie how thankful he was frequently (hence the makeout session over organizing a fucking drawer.) 

Even though Richie did everything for Eddie’s benefit, and he never once considered how it would affect him personally, the things that Richie did also benefited himself in small ways.

Cleaning Eddie in the shower when he was too tired to do it himself got him clean, but Richie was able to touch Eddie’s body. Getting Eddie to go to sleep guaranteed that he would be well rested, but Richie got cuddle with him for the first time in a week. Making sure Eddie took breaks increased his productivity, but Richie got to spend time with him for a little while.

Since everything he did seemed mutually beneficial in Richie’s book, he didn’t feel like he was really doing much for Eddie at all.

This realization stunned Richie into silence.

Eddie smiled sweetly. “I’m going to say this again and I don’t want you to downplay it. Take what I’m saying seriously. Thank you for helping me get my work done. Seriously, if you hadn’t helped me I would  _ still _ be working by now. I am  _ so lucky _ to have someone as amazing as you in my life.”

Eddie pressed a tender kiss to Richie’s neck. “Thank you.” He pressed another to Richie’s jaw.  _ “Thank you, _ Richie.”

In that moment, Richie was so overwhelmed with how grateful he was for the life he had. He and the other losers survived the fight. He had five friends he could call or text at any time of the day and they would be there for him. They always had his back and they would do  _ anything _ for them.

He also had  _ Eddie. _ His lifelong crush had a lifelong crush on  _ him. _ After they were apart for twenty seven years, they  _ finally _ got together. They dated, got engaged, and they were now  _ married. _

Richie remembered being fourteen and crushing on Eddie  _ hard. _ He would imagine what it would be like to hold his hand, kiss him, and have him as a boyfriend. He would have dreams about them being married and living together. He would wake up from those dreams sobbing into his pillow, crying harder than he would have after having a nightmare.

Now, after all of those years of pining and crying himself to sleep, he  _ finally _ had Eddie in his life.

He could kiss Eddie as much as he wanted to, they could cuddle before sleeping  _ in the same bed, _ they could make out on the couch like the horny teenagers they never got the chance to be, and they could do so many other things because they were  _ married. _

Not to mention that Eddie had his fucking  _ last name. _

When someone needed Eddie’s signature, he would sign it as “Edward Tozier.” When he would introduce himself to someone new, he would say, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eddie Tozier.” It was the name on his driver’s license, credit cards, and every piece of mail he received.

When Eddie accepted Richie’s proposal, (after Richie cried for ten whole minutes) he told Eddie that he didn’t mind taking his last name. Richie admitted that when he was a teenager, he would write his name as Richard Kaspbrak several times on the same sheet of paper. Then he would burn it because he was  _ very _ closeted, and he knew he would get the shit beat out of him if someone found it.

Aside from the fact that Eddie wasn’t attached to his own last name, he admitted that he would write his name as Edward Tozier frequently in his teenage years. Having this new knowledge caused Richie to lose his cool and he dragged Eddie to their bedroom where they proceeded to do everything on the bed that wasn’t sleeping.  _ That’s _ when Richie decided that he was more than okay with Eddie taking his last name.

All of this flooded to the forefront of Richie’s mind at once and tears started streaming down his face.

Eddie’s eyes widened in concern. “Chee, baby, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Richie cried harder at hearing Eddie use an affectionate pet name. All he could do was nod vigorously.

Eddie’s shoulders relaxed when he realized Richie wasn’t sad.

Eddie cupped Richie’s face in both hands and kissed the tears as they streamed down his face. Richie wrapped his arms tighter around his husband as he cried.

When Richie was finally done crying he murmured, “Sorry…”

Eddie softly kissed Richie’s forehead as he used his thumbs to wipe the tears away. “Don’t be, you’re fine. What got you so worked up, anyway?”

Richie sniffled. “Just thinking about how much I fucking love you and how happy I am that we’re married.”

Eddie beamed and Richie could tell he was trying not to cry himself. “Aw… Chee, I love you too.”

Richie grinned as Eddie started kissing him all over his face.

Richie’s eyes drifted closed as he let Eddie kiss him.

“We should probably go to sleep.” Richie murmured.

Eddie stopped kissing to speak. “I know. Do you want me to stop?”

“Not necessarily. I just want you to get enough sleep again. It’s kinda hard to sleep when you’re kissing someone.”

Richie opened his eyes to see how infatuated Eddie looked. “Okay. One more, then we’ll sleep.”

Richie nodded and Eddie kissed him on the lips before wrapping both of his arms around Richie’s neck. Eddie rested his cheek on his husband’s chest.

Richie shifted his arms so he could wrap them around the shorter man’s neck but Eddie let out a frustrated whine.

“What?” Richie asked.

“Lower.” was all Eddie murmured.

Richie wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist. “Here?”

“Lower.”

Richie, realizing what Eddie most likely wanted, rested his hands on the backs of Eddie’s bare thighs.

“Perfect.” Eddie practically purred.

Richie laughed.

“Shut up,” Eddie mumbled. “I love how easily your big hands envelope my legs.”

Richie kissed the nape of Eddie’s neck, causing him to shudder. “I’m not making fun of you. I just think it’s cute.”

Eddie yawned. “Goodnight, light of my life.”

Richie’s heart clenched and he held Eddie tighter. “Goodnight, Eddie my love.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if all of the kissing was annoying/repetitive. They're just super in love, okay?
> 
> I'm sure lots of people want me to update my muti-chapter fic. I will try my best to update that next. I'm just a tiny bit stuck and wanted to write something else to fight the writer's block. I'm going to start alternating posting a chapter of it and a one shot, just to spice things up.
> 
> Also I am in fact, roasting Stephen King. Like, sir. You killed two of my favorite fictional characters of all time so I will criticize you through my fanfic! I mean... you won't see it but I'm doing it anyway, motherfucker!
> 
> I don't think I had anything else to say. I hope you all have a fabulous day!


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